Originally Posted by
Leinster
I would think if a CF bike cost less to build than a CrMo bike, the RRP for the carbon bike would also be less. Otherwise a manufacturer somewhere is missing a trick, and losing out on sales, if everyone automatically adds a markup to their carbon frames.
I think it's definite that a CF bike costs less to make. However, the manufacturers are selling on the features/benefits.. a CF bike will weigh less and has perception of being the modern and more exotic of materials, and it weighs less. So these bikes can sell for more and the manufacturers have much better margins. Maybe it's like helmets.. I can't imagine that eg. a MIPS helmet with more venting (holes) and thinner foam lining really cost much more to make than the heavier weight MIPs models, but you see some of these at 3-4x the cost from the same manufacturer.
The CroMo bikes exist because they can fill a pricepoint tier in their product lineup for buyers with low budgets. Selling a CF for less would mean they have to diminish pricing across their higher end lineup, or offer CF bikes with garbage groupsets.